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Medical memo

Autoantibody signatures: A promising new test for prostate cancer

Published: May, 2007

Modern medicine has made great strides in the fight against
cancer, especially in finding improved ways to diagnose the
disease. Not too long ago, many malignancies were diagnosed only
after they grew large enough to make people seriously ill or
produce a lump or mass that doctors could feel. Next, x-rays were
used to detect smaller tumors, and now nuclear scans, CT scans,
and MRIs can diagnose much smaller, earlier growths. But as good
as they are, these tools are not always good enough, so
scientists are turning to biomarkers for even earlier diagnosis.

The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a biomarker, a protein
produced by prostate cancer cells that can be detected and
measured in a man's blood. PSA testing is currently the best way
to detect prostate cancer, but it's imperfect. Part of its
limitation stems from the fact that all prostate cells, benign
and malignant, produce PSA. So while men with prostate cancer
tend to have higher blood PSA levels than men without the
disease, there is considerable overlap, resulting in many
false-positive and false-negative results.